3 children found dead inside California apartment; father arrested

Hodges was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol just after midnight on Thursday morning and was taken into custody without incident, the station reports.

Neighbors called 911 to report a domestic violence incident at the family's residence.

When police responded, they discovered the three children and immediately began to perform life-saving measures.

"My daughter, she walked home with them every day, and she says 'Mom, they're not gonna walk home with me anymore.' That hit hard", mother Cristina Alvarez said with tears streaming down her face.

Police then gave chase to find Hodges, who had fled the home in an attempt to escape punishment. He said the mother was close by when the killings occurred but didn't witness them.

Police have not released details on how the children died. The children and their mother had not yet been officially identified on September 14, and their ages were not released yet by authorities. "The officers are absolutely impacted, along with the firefighters, and certainly the family, the neighbors - this call is going to have quite a bit of emotion".

"Everything appeared to be OK" between the couple who had been married for more than a dozen years, she said. "This [investigation] is going to take not hours, not days, it's going to take a long time a long time to come to grips with what happened there".

A makeshift memorial sprouted outside the family's second-floor apartment in a quiet, neatly maintained apartment complex with a gated driveway. The school district also brought in counselors and support personnel to help teachers and students during this time of grief. I was in my apartment the whole time.

Hodges did not have a significant criminal history and a neighbor said he seemed like a good father before the slayings, according to the newspaper. We played different games like racing, and I don't know, it's (like) bang.

Hundreds of people gathered at a vigil for the children Thursday night at an elementary school, leaving candles, stuffed animals and signed cards in their honor.

Longtime friends of Robert Hodges are just as stunned and saddened by all that's happened.